TENURED/TENURE-TRACK FACULTY

Dr. Carlos Posadas is the Department Head for the Department of Criminal Justice. His research interests include immigration, U.S.-Mexico border issues, race, gender and crime, and research methods. His teaching interests include research methods, statistics, and immigration and justice. He is a native of the area having grown up in El Paso, TX and completing his undergraduate work in criminal justice at New Mexico State University before moving on to the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University to pursue his graduate studies. Dr. Carlos Posadas has received the Donald C. Roush Award for teaching excellence in 2011.

Dr. Francisco Alatorre earned his doctorate in Justice Studies and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University in 2011. Before coming to New Mexico State University, Dr. Alatorre taught as a lecturer in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Arizona State University, Tempe and Downtown Campus. Prior to immigrating to the United States, he practiced law in Mexico. His research focuses mainly on (1) undocumented immigrant women and youth, by studying them in terms of ethnicity, race, gender, and how these factors challenge their identity and create barriers to obtain legal status. Furthermore, he is also researching to understand how these women, who are frequent victims of domestic abuse, current political agendas, and their own low self-esteem, empower themselves by symbolic interaction; (2) The relationship between the homeless and the ways social inequalities are shaped by complex intersections of gender, race, class, and nationality; and (3) borderland concerns. Currently Dr. Alatorre is investigating how homeless people perceive charity services in the Neoliberal Age; and how social service providers perceive and promote undocumented youth resiliency.

Dr. David Keys is an associate professor of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University. He received his AB in History from the University of Missouri-Columbia and MA and Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests include capital punishment, narcotics and addiction, research methods, and urban studies. Dr. Keys has consulted with municipal, county, and state governments for 17 years on corrections and sentencing issues. His dissertation was a biographical treatment of the career of drug researcher Alfred Lindesmith, that was subsequently published by SUNY Press as Confronting the Drug Control Establishment (2000) with John Galliher.

Dr. Dulcinea Lara is currently an associate professor in the Criminal Justice department at New Mexico State University. Before that, she was an assistant professor in the university’s History department for three years. She earned her doctorate in Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley in 2006. There, she was a Ford Pre-Doctoral Fellowship recipient as well as a Bancroft Fellow.

Her research frames include cultural studies and critical race theory, with an emphasis in Chicano history as well as an interest in topics of identity formation processes and theories, visual cultural markers of identity formation practices, cultural geography and spatial analysis. Currently, her main projects include work on a manuscript titled, “Revisiting the Land of Enchantment: Race and Tourism in New Mexico” and an article titled, “Deciphering Efficacy: Immigrant Advocacy Strategy in a Time of Domestic Despair.” She also completed a short documentary titled “This Land” that documents ICE raids and the consequences for families residing in the communities abutting her university. This documentary has been shown in stages at social justice conferences as well as at the Interstate Migrant Education Council’s annual meeting in Las Cruces, New Mexico in September 2008.

Dr. Lara employs the use of critical historical interpretation to create and apply a contextual scaffolding around contemporary social issues. NMSU’s situation in the tri-state community of New Mexico, Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico, as well as the bi-national cache that is the U.S.-Mexico border is one that provides a wealth of opportunities for a historical-contemporary inquiry into power imbalances that ensue in abuse, the ongoing criminalization and basic racist, classist, sexist and heterosexist treatment of underrepresented populations.

Dr. R.J. Marateais an assistant professor of CJ at NMSU. He received his B.A. in political science from Syracuse University, a M.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University, and a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Delaware. His dissertation expands upon social problems theory by examining the ways in which claims-makers use the Internet to distribute problem claims and attract support for their issues. Dr. Maratea’s areas of specialization include mass communication, social problems, deviant and criminal subcultures, and criminological theory.

Dr. James Maupin received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Arizona State University in 1990 and his Master of Public Administration from Southwest Missouri State University in 1985. He has taught at New Mexico State University since 1995. Dr. Maupin’s area of specialty is policy analysis and program evaluation. He has worked closely with state and local juvenile justice professionals in addressing issues of importance related to preadjudicatory detention and parole decision making. He has also conducted research on the ethical orientation of criminal justice professionals. His primary teaching areas are research methods, statistics, policy analysis and program evaluation.

COLLEGE TRACK FACULTY

Mr. William Corbett received a B.A. in Political Science and a MPA from the Pennsylvania State University. Following graduation he worked as a family law hearing officer for the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania prior to working as a management consultant in Europe and North America for the Alexander Proudfoot Company. Mr. Corbett then obtained a J.D. degree from the University of Illinois and worked as a civil litigator in California for 13 years. For the past 10 years, he has been a college instructor in the areas of law, criminal justice, and government at NMSU and other institutions, as well as a facilitator/mediator for civil litigants in cases filed with the Third Judicial District of New Mexico.

A strong passion, curiosity and desire have led Ms. Marija Dimitrijevic to the fascinating world of Criminal Justice. She received her BA from the University of Security Studies in Serbia and a Police Academy graduate with international experience in policing and human trafficking from working with victims in Serbia and Eastern Europe. Marija is a College Associate Professor at New Mexico State University where she obtained her MA in Criminal Justice. With her interests in research methods, youth and victims, online learning she envisions bringing a refreshing, challenging, interactive and truly global experience for students. Teaching online classes bring these vital issues to the forefront through reaching a greater awareness, understanding, and development when answering the issues evident in our global society. Marija is certified to evaluate online and blended higher education courses for quality and one of her online courses CJ 454 – Human Trafficking is nationally recognized and certified course.

Andrea F. Joseph graduated with her Juris Doctorate degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles and practiced law for 15 years. Her legal career began as a prosecutor in Los Angeles. After moving to New Mexico she worked in various capacities in public and private practice including working at the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office in their litigation division focusing on suits filed against various state agencies including the department of corrections; as an administrative prosecutor; and as a ‘writ’ attorney before the New Mexico Supreme Court. She also worked as Guardian ad Litem and Respondent’s counsel in child abuse and neglect cases; represented victims of domestic violence through a contract with La Casa in Las Cruces; worked with the elderly through Adult Protective Services and opened a private practice focusing on issues of family law. Ms. Joseph joined the faculty at NMSU in 2000 and her teaching responsibilities focus primarily on law related courses.

PROFESSORS EMERITUS

Dr. Joan E. Crowley received her doctorate in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1979. Prior to joining the faculty of NMSU in the Fall of 1989, Dr. Crowley held a senior research position with the Center for Human Resource Research at the Ohio State University and with the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Alabama. She taught as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at both the Ohio State University and at the University of Alabama. In 1991, she was elected to the three-year presidential cycle of the Southwest Association of Criminal Justice Educators. Her current interests are in the areas of communities and criminal justice, family violence and child abuse, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, historical criminology, and research methods.

Dr. Gregware earned an undergraduate degree in Economics, a MA in Psychology, a J.D. focused on public law, and a Ph.D. in Justice Studies. He has worked as a therapist in a mental health treatment center, was the Director of a federally-funded drug and alcohol treatment facility and a state funded alternative to corrections facility for women, and served as Warden of a pre-release center for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As a lawyer, he worked as a Law Clerk in the criminal courts of New York City and the Virgin Islands. He also worked as a Legal Services lawyer in a Boston ghetto, and as an Assistant District Attorney in Milwaukee, focusing on violent and sexual crimes against children. He has taught at Penn State University, the University of Wisconsin, and NMSU.

At NMSU, he has been awarded both the University’s Christmore and Roush Awards for outstanding teaching. He has also served as Head of the C.J. Department and as Associate Dean for Academics in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2011 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach at Comenius Law School in Slovakia. His current research interests focus on the foundations of unbiased and ethical decision making by CJ professionals.

Dr. Larry Mays was a Knoxville, Tennessee police officer for five years prior to completing his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Tennessee in 1979. He has previously taught at Appalachian State and East Tennessee State Universities. Dr. Mays has served as a consultant to the Department of Corrections, State Police, Youth Authority, and Association of Counties in New Mexico and to the El Paso, Texas Police Department. From 1981 to 1990, Dr. Mays was head of the New Mexico State University Department of Criminal Justice. His primary areas of research interest are jails, court organization and administration, and juvenile justice.

ADJUNCT FACULTY

Dr. EunJung Choi has taught in the Department of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University since 2011. Dr. Choi received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Arizona with Psychology as a minor. Her teaching interests include Research Methods, Nature of Crime, Criminology, Crime and Gender, and Juvenile Delinquency. Her research/writing interests include transnationalism, and immigration with a global implication, the intersection of race, class and gender, self and identity. Dr. Choi is currently working on “transnationalism, negotiated identity, and Asian immigrant women workers in the U.S.”

Mr. Rory L Rank has worked for the New Mexico Public Defender Dept since 1992. He is currently the supervisor of the Juvenile Division in the Las Cruces NM office. He has been very proactive in designing and implementing diversion programs for juveniles the 3 rd Judicial District. As a practicing attorney for over 30 years, he ensures excellence in juvenile defense and promotes justice for all children.

DMC-TARC

Faculty Accomplishments

Faculty members of the Department of Criminal Justice care deeply about our students, and the awards we have received attest to this caring attitude.

Faculty members have received five of the rare Patricia Christmore and Donald C. Roush Awards for teaching excellence, which are a product of students selecting their best teachers.Dr. Cynthia Bejarano is the Donald C. Roush Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, in 2008and Stan Fulton Endowed Chair in Arts and Sciences, Summer 2010.

Dr. Carlos Posadas has received the Donald C. Roush Award for teaching excellence in 2011. Dr. Posadas is the Department Head of Criminal Justice Department.

Dr. Peter Gregware has been awarded both the University's Christmore and Roush Awards for outstanding teaching. In 2011 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach at Comenius Law School in Slovakia.

Dr. Larry Mays received the university's most prestigious award, the Regents Professorship.

The Department has the highest level of university awards of any department at New Mexico State University .

Faculty members are also actively involved in helping others. One has pioneered a federally funded program for at-risk adolescent youth in the community. Another is director of the federally funded College Assistance Migrant Program for children of migrant workers. Faculty members serve on a number of boards and committees within the community and provide professional service and consulting to a number of criminal justice agencies, including New Mexico Association of Chiefs of Police, La Casa Community Board, Visitor Hospitality House, New Mexico Department of Public Safety, and the New Mexico Juvenile Justice Division.